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Alma

Alma in Morro Bay Maritime Museum
History
Owner	1927-1958  ? 1958-1995 Sylvester’s Tug Service 1995 Morro Bay Maritime Museum
Builder	Beviacqua Brothers Genoa Boat Works, San Francisco
Completed	1927
In service	1927-1995
Status	Museum ship at Morro Bay Maritime Museum in Morro Bay, California.
General characteristics
Type	Tugboat
Length	48 ft (15 m)
Beam	13 ft (4.0 m)
Draft	5.2 ft (1.6 m)

Alma is Tugboat museum ship at the Morro Bay Maritime Museum in Morro Bay, California. Alma was built in 1912 in San Francisco by the Beviacqua Brothers Genoa Boat Works near Fisherman’s Wharf. Alma is small harbor tug, built out of wood, with sawn oak frames and Cedar planks. The former owners of Sylvester’s Tug Service, the Kelsey Family, donated Alma in 1995 to the museum. No long in Tug business, the Kelsey family now runs the Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards near Avila Beach. In June 2016 restoration work on Alma was compelted, Keith Kelsey that worked on the Alma was there. Alma restoration work was done by the Central Coast Maritime Museum Association. Funding for the restoration work came from the Hind Foundation. Before her 1995 retirement, Alma operated out of Morro Bay.

World War II

Alma made history on December 23, 1941, in the morning. Japanese submarine I-21 torpedoed attacked and sank the Union Oil tanker SS Montebello near the start of World War II. The SS Montebello had departed Port San Luis with crude oil bound for Vancouver BC, Canada. Alma departed her mooring at the Cayucos Pier to look for survivors of the sunken Oil tanker. The 400-foot Montebello sank six miles offshore just north of Cambria, California. The Alma was able to pick up two of Montebello lifeboats with 22 men and took them back to Cayucos. That day the captain of the Alma was Merle Molinari. Another tug towed one of the other lifeboats to shore. The fourth and last lifeboat was able to go to shore on it own. The Montebello has thirty-three survivors. The Montebello is under in 880 feet of water off the coast of Cambria. The shipwreck was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

See also

• List of museum ships in North America
• Angels Gate (tugboat)
• Spindrift (ship)

References

1. "Morro Bay Maritime Museum: After 20-Plus Years A Dream Becomes Reality". 27 December 2018.
2. Alma Tugboat, sanluisobispo.com/news
3. "The Fleet – Morro Bay". Morro Bay Maritime Museum. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
4. "Audio Exhibits". Morro Bay.
5. "U.S. Tanker Sunk By Jap Torpedo". The Spokesman-Review. 24 December 1941. p. 24. Retrieved 15 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Captain Tells of Torpedoing". Ventura County Star-Free Press. 23 December 1941. p. 1. Retrieved 15 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Olof Ekstrom (30 December 1941). Report of Casualty (Report). Port San Luis: Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Customs.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1941
Shipwrecks	2 Dec: Virsaitis 6 Dec: HMS Perseus 7 Dec: USS Arizona, USS California, USS Cassin, Cynthia Olson, USS Downes, Ha-19, M-16, M-18, M-20, M-22, USS Nevada, USS Oglala, USS Oklahoma, Sauternes, USS Shaw, U-208, USS Utah, USS West Virginia, HMCS Windflower 8 Dec: SS Capillo, Nisqually, USS Penguin, HMS Peterel, Ravnaas 10 Dec: HMS Banka, USS Bittern, I-70, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Repulse, Takao Maru, No. 10, USS YP-16 11 Dec: Hayate, Kisaragi, HMS Lady Shirley 12 Dec: Awazisan Maru, HMS Moth, HMS Tamar 13 Dec: Alberico da Barbiano, Alberto di Giussano 14 Dec: HMS Galatea 15 Dec: Empire Barracuda, HNLMS O 16, U-127 16 Dec: U-557 17 Dec: Corregidor, Ro-66, Shinonome, U-131 18 Dec: U-434 19 Dec: HMS Neptune, HNLMS O 20, HMS Stanley, U-574 20 Dec: Emidio, HMS Kandahar 21 Dec: HMS Audacity, HMS Cicala, HNLMS K XVII, U-451, U-567 23 Dec: Hayataka Maru, Montebello, Patrol Boat No. 32, Patrol Boat No. 33, Shuntien, U-79 24 Dec: Absaroka, HNLMS K XVI, USS Rochester, Sagiri, HMS Salvia 25 Dec: Empire Dragon, USS Sealion, HMS Thracian 26 Dec: Unyo Maru No. 2 27 Dec: Arayat, Canlaon 28 Dec: Banahao, DCH-1, U-75, Volo, SS Connecticut 29 Dec: BRP Banahaw, Ro-60 Unknown date: HMS H31, USS Nereus, HMS Triumph, Vizcaya
Other incidents	7 Dec: USS Gamble, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee, USS Thresher, USS Vestal 8 Dec: Awazisan Maru, USS Thresher 9 Dec: I-10 10 Dec: Oigawa Maru, USS Sealion 11 Dec: HMS Jackal 16 Dec: HMS Thracian 17 Dec: Ro-62 20 Dec: USS Pompano 24 Dec: Absaroka 31 Dec: Ruth Alexander
1940 1941 1942 November 1941 January 1942

35°22′14″N 120°51′20″W / 35.37049°N 120.85544°W / 35.37049; -120.85544

• 1927 ships
• Morro Bay
• Ships built in San Francisco
• Tugboats of the United States
• Steam tugs
• Maritime history of California